A Love Reserved for Fairy Tales
by Ai Enmaxjigoku shoujo
Summary: When Nat moved into Peach Creek he never expected to make so many great friends, fall in love, and fall out of love all in a year's time. Onesided Nat/Edd. Kevedd. [Ed Edd n Eddy belongs to Danny Antonucci and Nat and the cover art both belong to c2ndy2c1d]
1. Chapter 1

The Cul de sac was in an uproar. The kids of the cul de sac (though one could hardly say they were kids anymore as freshman year at Peach Creek high had just started for most of them) stood in a crowd, murmuring to one another from where they stood in Kevin's front yard. Everyone except the Eds, that is.

"It's like been years since someone moved in" Nazz commented from her place next to Kevin, her weight resting on one foot and a hand on her hip. Johnny bobbed his head in agreement, before turning his attention to his cell phone which had a small replica of his childhood friend, Plank, hanging off of it as a charm.

"Plank says the last one to move here was Double D" he had stopped carrying the 2 by 4 piece of wood around long ago – or rather his mother made him, but as childish as it was, he still kept the memory of his imaginary friend alive. It had become a habit of his to refer to Plank over himself, but the fellow cul de sac kids had long accepted the habit and chose to ignore his habit of speaking – it was Johnny's way of speaking his mind when he normally lacked the courage too.

Sarah walked up to the crowd of older kids at the mention of Double D, Jimmy trailing behind her. Though her feelings for Double D had simmered down some from when they were children, she still held a deep respect for him – he was after all, smart, cute, and anyone that kept her annoying older brother in check was great in her book. She couldn't help the flush that bloomed on her cheeks at the thought of him, "Where is Double D anyway?"

Jimmy scowled at the mention of his rival – not that Edd knew it – before huffing something unintelligible and turning his attention to Kevin who started speaking, "Who cares about Double Dweeb right now – I wanna know who's moving in across from me"

The kids didn't really have a good view though, as the large moving truck obscured their line of vision and the faceless men in grey suits moving in and out of the truck were clearly hired workers.

"I'm gonna go see what's up" he finally muttered, before slipping his hands out of his pockets and jogging diagonally across the street in the direction of Rolf's house. The new neighbor would be moving into the vacated house between Double D and Rolf (the one directly across from Kevin's own) and the cap wearing teen absently wondered if the new residents knew that their neighbor had farm animals in their backyard. He snickered at the thought.

He forewent the front door and instead looped around to where Rolf would no doubt be working – probably sowing seeds or grooming Victor or whatever it was his odd friend did with his free time.

"Yo Rolf" he called once he spotted the teen, who – if his sweat soaked wife beater and mud stained jeans were anything to go by – had just finished some hard manual labor. Rolf shot up from his bent over position and waved enthusiastically at the other boy, "Casanova Kevin! What are you doing visiting the son of a shepherd during the hour of bread and wine?"

"Uh… yeah. Look man, I just wanted to see if you know what's up with the new neighbors?"

Rolf visibly brightened, "Ah – you were right to come seeking knowledge from Rolf as he has all the answers no clue Kevin wants. There is a man and a woman, much like one would expect from your marital customs and a peculiar boy, yes. They have yet to make merriment with Rolf and do not seem to honor the customs of the great Yeshmiyek as they did not first douse their newfound home with the essence of-"

"Yeah, yeah I get it" Kevin cut Rolf off, his eyes drifting to the house on the other side of Rolf's fence, "They got a kid you said?"

"Yes, Rolf saw him and his mop of spring grass colored hair – I think he is our age, yes?"

Kevin hmmed in thought, when he caught the glimpse of someone pass by an upstairs window – the figure paused before the frame was suddenly wrenched up and open and the kid Rolf had mentioned earlier stuck his head out, "Sup!" he called and Kevin raised a hand in greeting. The boy offered a peace sign in reply and opened his mouth to say something before a disembodied voice from inside the house stole his attention away. Kevin watched as the green haired teen scowled at the owner of the voice before turning back to window and offering a wave and then slamming the window shut.

Kevin smiled to himself – grateful that the kid seemed to be normal and wasn't going to be a pest like Eddy. He offered Rolf a farewell before heading back to his house where the other kids were eagerly awaiting his return.

* * *

On the other end of the Cul de sac, in the lane behind Ed's house were the missing Eds.

"Now you listen here mister – you know what happened the last time you plucked a turtle from his natural habitat. I must insist you place him back in his pond this instant!"

"But Double D – I was saving him from the foul beast Zarganon who had been trying to eat his brains like he was a bucket of mashed potatoes".

"No Ed," Double D corrected, "He was simply burrowing in the mud to escape your clutches. Why-"

"Oh can it sockhead" Eddy cut in, "Forget the turtle for a minute and listen to what I go to say".

Double D sighed heavily, clearly annoyed with being cut off, but dutifully turned his full attention to the shortest Ed.

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot. Do tell why you chose to drag us out here in this – this" he scanned his surroundings – taking in the occasional piece of garbage strewn about the area, "germ infested alley!"

Eddy ignored him though, in favor of pulling his two companions close to him into a sort of huddle (turtle included) and chose to instead spill the news he overheard from his mom, "Get this! Y'know how my mom's got that job as a realtor? Yeah well, she apparently just sold a house here in the cul de sac!"

Double D perked at the news, intrigued by this new information – two of the three vacated lots in the neighborhood are located across from and next to his own home. In short, there was a chance he would have a new neighbor.

"I say Eddy, this is magnificent news! Oh just think- " Double D paused mid-sentence in favor of peering up at the turtle perched atop his companion's head as it munched, seemingly content, on Ed's ear, "Uhm Ed… the turtle is currently masticating on the lobe of your ear".

Ed only laughed, "It tickles Double D!"

"I hardly see how that can be anything other than unpleasant – not only that but just think of the bacteria riddled throughout the turtle's saliva!"

Eddy growled in annoyance, frustrated with his friend's lack of attention before he socked Ed in the side and roughly grabbed Double D's chin and swiveled his head back towards him, "Forget gravy brain for a sec and listen will ya?! Apparently, the family moving in next ta ya is named Goldberg! Goldberg! I bet they are swimming in cash! Just think of all the sweet scams we can pull and-" at this point Double D tuned his eccentric friend out. He should have known this had something to do with a scam – Edd feared it was a terrible habit Eddy would never grow out of. But more importantly, Double D was focused on the aspect that his aforementioned assumption was correct and he was getting a new neighbor. He was, quite frankly, giddy with excitement. As a long-time resident in the neighborhood he felt it his duty to make the Goldberg family feel as welcome as possible – which meant cooking! Oh how he loved cooking! With a large smile, Double D broke free from the huddle and snatched Ed's sleeve.

"If you'll excuse me Eddy, but I am going to take Ed here to the creek where he can return this poor creature to his natural habitat and then I am heading home as there are many preparations to be made to welcome the cul de sac's new guests" and then he was swiftly turning on his heel, dragging Ed away with him before Eddy could get a word in edge wise.

* * *

Double D hummed happily to himself as he placed the homemade peach cobbler into one of his mother's many hand-crocheted bowl cozies. He slipped the oven mitts off his hands and hung them in their proper place, before ensuring the oven was off for the third time since he cooked the cobbler. He took one last look at the spotless kitchen, before giving a nod of approval and picking up the still warm (but not too hot) cobbler and heading outside.

It was well after seven o'clock, which Double D considered to be ample time for his new neighbors to settle in, and he felt confident that he had chosen the prime time to drop off his peace offering. It took a bit of maneuvering but he was able to knock – three quick raps – on the door with little trouble and waited with a smile for it to be answered.

A few seconds passed before the door was wrenched open to reveal a smiling teenager, who, had he not been standing a step higher than Double D, would probably be about eye level with the cobbler toting teen.

"Hey" he greeted, smiling down at Double D – his eyes sparkling with a mix of excitement and mischief.

"Salutations! My name is Double D and I am your new neighbor. I thought it would a wonderful welcome to the neighborhood gift if I brought you this homemade peach cobbler" and then as an afterthought, "Oh! Though I do hope you or your family does not have any fruit or flour allergens. If so, I can easily remedy this by bringing you something else… tomorrow… night…" Double D trailed off when he noticed the other teen was trying and failing to muffle his chuckles into his hand. Edd's lips twisted into a frown at the realization he was being laughed at.

"S-sorry" the teen giggled as if sensing Double D's discomfort, "But you're just too adorable. Thanks for the cobbler man. Wanna come in and share it?"

Double D only shook his head frantically, his face burning from the other boy's words, "That is quite alright uhm…"

"Nat" the other supplied.

"Yes thank you. However, I must politely decline your offer… Nat." the name, clearly a nickname of sorts, felt odd on his tongue – though he really shouldn't judge as he had introduced himself with his own nickname as well. He gently pushed the cobbler into Nat's hands and took a step backwards.

"I do hope you enjoy the cobbler and may your time here in the cul de sac be pleasant" he offered a gap-tooth smile and then quickly jogged back to his house, stumbling over himself slightly when Nat called after him, "See ya later sweet cheeks!"

Once in the confines of his home, Edd began ranting aloud as he slipped off his shoes, "Sweet cheeks?! What a deplorable name! Hardly appropriate for someone you've just met! What on Earth could have possessed him to call me such a thing? "Determined to forget the embarrassment he felt, Double D trudged to the bathroom – intent on engaging in a nice warm shower to rid himself of the day's grime he had surely concocted.

It was as he flicked the bathroom light switch on and caught sight of his reflection that Double D found the answer to his earlier question. Horrified, he practically ran up to the bathroom sink and carefully examined his face. The red flush from earlier was back full force as he spotted a smudge of off-white pie batter staining his cheek.

"God lord!" Double D cried. To think, he had shown up on the Goldberg's doorstep looking like this! How could he miss such a thing? Nat probably thought he was a slob! How unsanitary! He'd never been so embarrassed!

* * *

Next door, Nat stood in his half-unpacked kitchen, leaning against the counter as he shoveled a bite of the best peach cobbler he had ever tasted into his mouth, "That kid was too cute".


	2. Chapter 2

Nat rolled out of bed a little before ten and promptly fell onto the hardwood floor with a groan. Half asleep, he got to his feet with about as much grace as a newborn foal, and made his way to the bathroom across the hall – not a care in the world that he donned nothing but bright pink briefs. His normally impeccable hair was swooshed in one direction and when he ran his hand through it his fingers snagged in a mess of tangles.

He had unpacked his shower supplies last night, but hell if he knew which box had all their towels in it.

"I'll just air dry" he decided before clambering into the shower – it's not like his parents were home – they both still had their job in the city and wouldn't be back til about six (man was he glad he didn't have to work weekends), so he had all the time he wanted to wander through his house naked.

After a quick shower, a dripping wet and as naked as the day he was born Nat, found himself making cute faces at his reflection in the mirror. Just little half smirks and winks, "Yeah – that's what they like" he crooned before bursting into a fit of laughter. It took him exactly twenty eight minutes to get his hair right – he towel dried it (his towel being his night shirt from the night before - a quick sniff test proved it to be semi-clean) first, then blew dry it upside down and then he used some of his favorite hair sculpting clay and ran his fingers through it several times in an upward direction to get that perfect messy but refined lift that screamed, "I'm cute AND sexy – deal with it".

That's not to say Nat was cocky and thought he was the bee's knees, but confidence was key and boy did he have some. He offered one last smirk to his reflection, making sure his hair was just right and his gold piercing was as polished as ever – before making his way downstairs for some breakfast.

Breakfast being what was left of that delicious peach cobbler – he was a bit peeved to see there was only one piece left, which meant his stingy parents helped themselves to some more. But then again, this worked in his favor – he could just return the pan (after he washed it of course – it was common courtesy) and maybe finagle more goodies from his adorable new neighbor. With that in mind, Nat quickly stuffed the rest of the cobbler in his mouth before heading back towards his room. He had wanted the room that faced the guy with the farm animals, but his parents had snagged it from under him, all because it had its own conjoined bathroom or some other parental reason – he hadn't really been listening. It was a blessing in disguise though, because now he had the bedroom that faced Double D's house and – as he had learned last night – was directly across from the boy's own bedroom. That's not to say he was some voyeur or something, but the houses were pretty close together and Nat bet they could easily hold a conversation across the way – he figured it'd be fun. And Double D looked like he could use a little bit of fun.

Much to Nat's disappointment though, when he finally made it over to the other boy's house, no one was home. He couldn't help but pout – he'd worn his best jeans too, the ones that just hugged his, as he liked to put it, "hot buns" just right. Always one to look on the brighter side of things however, the teen decided he might as well go and introduce himself to all the neighbors. He figured he'd start with the farmer next door and make his way around the cul de sac and then go out for some good old fashioned exploring.

* * *

"Hey! You're that kid from before!" Nat greeted when he made it to the last occupied house in the lot, he offered a cheeky grin to the other boy before mock saluting him, "I'm Nat – and from today forth you will be my go to guy!"

Kevin blanched, "Go... to guy?"

"Word around the block is you're the local cool kid – a badass with a fiery attitude – my kind of guy. My right hand pal, my main man, my-"

"Alright!" Kevin cut in, his eye twitching in annoyance, "Enough already".

Nat didn't seem at all perturbed by the other boy's reaction, and instead pushed his way past him and into his house.

"Hey!" Kevin called after him – just what was with this guy? Ticked, he slammed his front door and followed Nat to the other room, just in time to see him plant face first on his living room couch.

"Man~" Nat groaned as he stretched out on the seat like it was an everyday occurrence, "Does this air conditioning feel good or what?! I worked up a sweat going door to door!"

Kevin glared as Nat ran his sock clad feet (when had the kid kicked his shoes off?) along the surface of the couch, "Ha, the friction makes my feet hot".

"Then don't do that ya idiot" he grumbled before stepping out of the room and returning a moment later with two cans of soda. He tossed one at Nat, finding amusement at the grunt that slipped out when he nailed the effervescent boy right in the gut, before popping the tab of his own can and taking a long sip.

"So… Plan on tellin' me why you just broke into my house?" a great conversation starter if Kevin ever heard one.

"Cause we're neighbors and that's what neighbors do?" Nat offered, still unfazed by Kevin's killer glare, "Besides I feel like we're best pals already! These kids sure look up to you – you're like the shit around here" it seemed Nat's eloquence wasn't much better than Kevin's own. Nat pointedly stared at Kevin, eyes unwavering; shit-eating grin ever present.

'Any minute' he thought, 'Any minute he'll crack'. And sure enough, the corner of Kevin's lip twitched ever so slightly upwards – the beginnings of a smile.

'That's right! No one can resist Nathan Kedd Goldberg's charm!'

* * *

Double D stifled a yawn, fighting to keep his eyes open and pay attention to the movie they were invested in. Every Saturday, the three Ed's accumulated in one of their house's (it was Eddy's turn to play host this time) to have a movie day; or rather, movie afternoon, as they would usually treat themselves to lunch and then start the streaming of movies. It's not that the movie was boring – in fact, ever since he had taken that film class last semester he always liked to see how many aspects of film were incorporated and whether or not it came full circle. Lunch though, was particularly filling and a full stomach and a dark cozy room plus Double D equates to a nice nap. But oh! He couldn't possibly take a nap now – it wasn't figured into his weekend plans. Double D allowed himself one cat nap (duration twenty minutes) a week and he had already taken it Wednesday (he'd had a dreadful headache and there was no cure better than some aspirin and a bit of light sleeping) and so he couldn't possibly now. With a bit more willpower than he thought he was able, he pulled himself into a sitting position and shimmied backwards on Eddy's bed so he could prop himself against the wall. Ed whined a bit at the loss of his leg rest (as the taller boy had had his legs strewn over Double D's middle) before letting his attention drift back to the movie.

"Let's just watch this one today" he whispered to Eddy who just grunted in what Double D assumed to be approval.

Double D smiled to himself before turning back to the television and pouring his utmost concentration into deciphering the mystery's plot and of course, staying awake.

The three boys sat curled up on the bed (it seemed so much bigger when they were younger) and watched the movie in relative silence for a few more minutes before a loud knock broke the immersion of the film Double D had just found himself in.

"Eddy, the door" he offered when the shorter boy made no move to get up.

"It's probably the post man or something" Eddy shot back, his eyes not leaving the screen.

"That may be true, but it is common courtesy t-"

"Blah blah common curtsey"

"Courtesy, Eddy"

"Yeah whatever, the movie just got to the good part. You know the part right before everything makes sense and shit goes down".

Double D briefly turned his attention back to the movie, "Oh… You're right. The climax is starting," to which Eddy gave him an odd face and he responded, "It's part of dramatic structure – you've learned it before I'm sure".

It wasn't until Double D was wrapping up his lecture on the importance of dramatic structure and Eddy was looking awfully content as the credits rolled across the screen that he realized he'd forgotten about the door.

"Eddy! You tricked me!"

"Nu uh sockhead, I didn't do nothing-"

And before he could correct Eddy's double negative, Ed (who had dutifully waited for the last credit to roll by before turning his attention away from the television) threw himself onto the other boys with a laugh.

"Double D, Eddy can we get a chicken like the one in the movie?!"

Double D bit the inner corner of his lip to avoid a full blown grin – Ed was so childlike – he actually admired the boy's ability to live life blissfully unaware.

"We ain't getting you a chicken lumpy, now get offa me would ya?! I wanna get some fresh air!"

"Fresh air does sound nice," Double D piped in, allowing Ed time to roll off of him and then getting up and stretching his limbs.

Collectively, the three Eds made their way out of Eddy's bedroom door and into the fenced in backyard. Immediately, Ed made a beeline for a butterfly fluttering about and the other two chose a less active route and settled in the small porch swing. It was a close fit (yet another example of a piece of furniture that had been so much bigger when they were children) and to prevent being packed like sardines, Eddy casually threw his arm over Double D's shoulder so they would both have more arm room. Growing up together the boys had always been close and neither found a problem with being so touchy-feely (they had their fair share of dog piles and sleep overs when they were young) and this certainly wasn't the first time they had stuffed themselves together in a chair. In fact, as children, whenever they watched movies at Ed's house, the three would usually pile onto his La-Z-Boy chair – the two smaller boys settled on Ed's lap.

The sun was pleasant (Double D had already put a day's worth of sun block on) and the cool breeze made the day that much sweeter – a combination that brought back Double D's sleepiness with full force. Lazily, he leaned his head back, using Eddy's arm as a pillow and stared up at a passing cloud.

"Sleepy, sleepy, sleepy" he muttered under his breath, closing his eyes briefly as a particularly cooling breeze blew by – an action which did not go un-noticed by his companion. (Not Ed of course, for he was busy trying to scale the apple tree in Eddy's yard – butterfly long forgotten).

"You can sleep ya know"

Double D merely shook his head, and offered a half-felt, mumbled explanation as to why he could not nap today.

Eddy scoffed at the explanation, using his hand to smack Edd's head lightly before none-too gently forcing his neck to crane and rest on his shoulder.

"I'll wake you up in twenty minutes – if you don't nap now, you'll be a bitch to deal with later".

Edd looked as if he were going to protest, but against his better judgment his eyelids started drooping and he figured two cat naps in a week wouldn't mess up his schedule too much – after all, this time was normally spent watching B rated movies so he figured resting his brain for a little bit wouldn't be too unproductive.

* * *

Nat went to explain his meetings with the neighbors to Kevin, highlighting the particularly interesting visits with exaggerated arm movements (one of which had caused him to knock his soda can off the coffee table and onto the floor – the resulting mess earning him a swift punch to the arm that Nat swore would bruise – oh the joys of male bonding). He thought Rolf was hilarious – a comment that helped the green haired boy win over Kevin's favor a bit more, as the red head had then mentioned that he and Rolf were good friends. He thought Nazz was cool and had even tried to convince the girl to go green (and not the recycling kind of green) – a color that Nat had gone on to explain that not all people could rock save for the few amazing people out there like himself. Jimmy was a wimp – though Nat saw that as a good thing because in his opinion the world needed more guys like him (who else would look that good in a sky blue turtle neck?) Johnny was Johnny – a comment that had Kevin rolling in laughter – that kid was a hodge-podge of who knows what and Sarah was, "a ginger with no soul" yet another comment that had Kevin laughing but also feeling slightly offended – he was a ginger too after all.

"So I take it you didn't meet the Eds?" Kevin asked once Nat was finished with his recounting of the cul de sac.

At Nat's questioning gaze, Kevin jumped into a description of the Eds – starting with Ed who Nat learned was Sarah's sister – a fact the girl herself had left out – and the moving onto Eddy.

"Yeah, no one answered when I knocked earlier" Nat had said and Kevin had 'hmm'ed in thought briefly before going on to say, "It's better that he didn't – that kid's a real loser". Still, Nat insisted on meeting him at some point in time, along with the other Ed.

Kevin went on to describe Double D or rather, "Double Dork" and how he was the most chill of the three and wicked smart and okay to talk to every once in a while as long as his entourage wasn't with him. Nat did not mention his encounter with the boy – instead wanting to keep the brief interaction and delicious cobbler to himself – an image of a flushed Edd with pie batter on his cheek burned into his mind – a memory that was exclusively his and Edd's to share.

With little effort on his part, Nat had successfully wormed his way into Kevin's select group of friends and in no time the two boys were chatting like they'd known each other for years.

Not one to sit still for long, Nat had convinced Kevin to give him a lackluster tour of the red head's house – a brief event which had ended in Kevin's backyard.

The two friends stood outside in the sun, chatting about mediocre things like sports and music for a long while before Nat's insatiable curiosity got the best of him and he decided to peek over the fence in hopes of seeing this "Eddy" that Kevin despised.

Kevin didn't seem to think it very exciting, but when he had told Nat that he could see into the boy's room from here (it seemed Nat had developed a habit of looking into other guy's windows recently) there was no stopping him.

He was shocked to say the least, when he caught an eyeful of the cute Double D, resting peacefully against an equally asleep, not at all good looking (and no that wasn't Nat's jealousy kicking in – why would he be jealous? They were just sleeping together – pssh like that bothered him – he didn't even know Double D that well) boy whom Kevin had informed was Eddy. There was another boy – Ed – though Nat paid him little attention, sleeping face down on the grass, and Nat kind of wished he hadn't been so damn curious to see this "Eddy".

"You didn't tell me they were dating" Nat grumbled – again, not jealous – just slightly ticked for no reason whatsoever – definitely not because Edd looked so content with the other boy.

"That's cause they aren't" and Kevin, though he had known the boys were close – hadn't known they were THAT close, found himself an eensy bit peeved that Double D the germ-a-phobe – the boy who had flinched the few times Kevin had given him a friendly pat on the shoulder – was so openly comfortable lying against that damn Eddy.

The two boys – with knots twisting in their guts for some odd reason (though neither would admit it) shared a look with one another before wordlessly heading back into Kevin's house to go play call of duty and effectively erase the image of the two Eds sleeping together from their minds.

* * *

[[How is it guys can warm up to each other so quickly? Like damn have you noticed that guys can just like meet someone for the first time and they share one interest and it's like – brotp instantly? Anyway… Thanks for reading and sorry for the long wait. Stay tuned for the next chapter!]]


	3. Chapter 3

The weekend breezed by uneventfully, with Nat spending most of his free time wandering the cul de sac with Kevin or begrudgingly unpacking the rest of his belongings. Monday brought with it the start of his academic life here in Peach Creek. Nat was – in a sense – excited because he couldn't wait to meet more and more people. He had always been a very extroverted boy and school was practically a breeding ground of potential friendships – his excitement showed through the bounce in his step as he made the short fifteen minute walk to his new school – Kevin dragging alongside him.

"Come on dude, where's your spirit?" Nat asked as he elbowed his companion none too gently in the gut.

"It's just school gnome" was Kevin's lack luster response which had Nat raising a perfectly maintained eyebrow.

"Your insults are lacking in the sting department. What's that supposed to mean anyway?"

"It means you're freaky and green, is what it means" Kevin barked. So what if his insults sucked? He may not be the best at coming up with things on the spot but it didn't mean he was an idiot. He just wasn't mean hearted despite how often he resorted to violence – insults and fist fights were in his personality, though not necessarily in his blood.

Nat clutched his t-shirt over his heart in mock pain, "Oh" he cried out in an effeminate voice, "Your words wound me so~!"

"Cut the dramatics Shakespeare" was Kevin's response as he rammed his shoulder into Nat's chest who stumbled back with a small 'oof' followed by a fit of giggles, "Hey hey, not need to beat me up about it!"

The school came into view and Nat practically squealed at the small hustle and bustle going about the school.

"Look Kevin!" he pointed, "Our peers!"

Kevin's lip twitched in a mix of a sneer and a smile – he wasn't sure whether to be annoyed with the idiot or if the kid's antics were endearing. He settled with annoying and smacked the boy upside the head before marching past him and into the small crowd making its way into the school, "You're making a scene"

Nat pouted, doing an amazing impression of a fish, but walked into the school with Kevin on his best behavior nonetheless.

The school was – to Nat's disappointment – utterly normal. He wasn't expecting anything amazing, but it was a bit of a letdown that this school had the same basic setup as his previous school in the city. Sure it was a bit smaller and had a different color scheme, but it was virtually the same.

"Alright Kevin," Nat began as he tossed his arm over said red-head's shoulder and pulled him close as if about to divulge a juicy secret, "Take me to the office".

Kevin responded with a swift elbow to the gut (who sure was hitting Nat a lot this morning) – effectively pushing the other boy off him, "No way man. I ain't going to be late to class because your dumbass needs to be shown around".

"But Kevin~" Nat whined, stomping his foot with flourish and doing a damn good impression of a child about to have a fit, "I don't know where the office is!"

By now, a small crowd had gathered to see the strange kid and Kevin was developing a twitch in his eye, he swore this kid man, "If you'd open your eyes" Kevin wasn't screaming, his voice was fairly quiet – the tone just promised death is all, "You'd see that the office is right frickin' there" the statement was punctuated by a swift point to the hallway to the right which had an arrow sign dictating that the office was located at the end of the hall.

Nat blinked, "Oh. Why didn't you just say so man? No need to cause a scene" and then Nat was skipping merrily down the hall and Kevin smacked his right hand over his face and roughly dragged it downwards – clearly annoyed. A couple deep breaths later and he was feeling significantly less annoyed – the small crowd from earlier had dispersed already and Kevin was a bit relieved, he didn't think he had the energy to deal with a crowd of curious students. In a small school like this, word spread fast and Kevin wouldn't be surprised if everyone knew about the new student already.

* * *

Double D had just finished setting all of his things out on his desk – his Literature book, his AP English notebook, a copy of Heart of Darkness, and two number two pencils – when his name was called over the classroom's intercom. There were no 'oohs' or anything, in fact, no one even seemed to acknowledge it. It was pretty well known, or at least, known amongst Eddward's fellow academically gifted peers, that Double D often helps the principal out (just sorting paperwork and manning the front office every once in a while). Everyone had already heard the rumor about the new student, so it was safe to assume Double D would be that kid's escort.

With an inaudible huff, Double D set about gathering his things and placing them back into his backpack (he would not dare leave his things in the classroom unattended). Once done with that, he heaved his bag onto his shoulders and quietly made his way out of the room and towards the principal's office.

He made his way into the main office, offering a smile and polite 'Salutations' to the women behind the desk and then headed straight for the principal's office. He knocked, waited for the okay, and then entered.

Inside, sat the principal at his desk, and then – 'Good Lord is that Nat?' though he supposed he shouldn't be so surprised. It's not like there are any other schools in the area for the boy to go to. He couldn't help the flush that enveloped his cheeks as he remembered his meeting with the other boy and the embarrassment he sustained. However, one must remain professional and cool at all times and so he steeled his features and stepped up next to Nat.

"Greetings Mr. Antonucci and greetings to you Nat,"he offered a head nod in greeting and the other boy gave him a full blown grin, eyes crinkled, and teeth sparkling.

The Principal beamed at him, "Ah Eddward, I take it you've already met Mr. Goldberg already?"

Double D nodded, "Yes. I had the pleasure of making his acquaintance over the weekend".

"Good. Then it should be no problem to show him around and give him a tour".

"Not at all Mr. Antonucci – it would be my pleasure".

The Principal smiled once more and then offered Double D Nat's schedule, who took it without hesitation.

"Well then Nat, if you would come with me please" Double D did his best to ignore the waggled brows and wolfish grin Nat offered him at the word "come" and stiffly walked out of the room, his ears burning red.

The pair walked out of the main office in relative silence, Double D scanning the paper before him, and Nat whistling to himself, his arms crossed behind his head as he appreciated the nice view Double D was giving him as the smaller boy walked ahead.

"Oh my!" Double D exclaimed, effectively snapping Nat out of his train of thoughts. He stopped, nearly crashing into the other boy who had stopped walking – Nat hadn't even noticed.

"What is it?" he questioning, peering over Double D's shoulder to look at his schedule.

"I-I was just admiring the fact that you are taking several advanced courses – did you sign up for these yourself?"

"Yeah – I've got a pretty good head on my shoulders if I do say so myself".

"Intriguing! I never would have pegged you for someone so academically gifted! Never judge a book by its cover they always say!" Double D was clearly excited, his earlier embarrassment gone, "Oh, that's not to say I was implying that you look like an airhead of sorts – I was merely saying that with a physique like yours one would assume that you are more athletically inclined".

Nat laughed, clearly enjoying Double D's rambling, but pressed a finger to his lips to silence him – lest he speak more.

"A physique like mine eh? Don't tell me you were checking me out Double D?" the Goldberg's voice was breathy, sending a shiver of – dear lord was is pleasure? – down Edd's spine. He stumbled back – intent on putting space between them – before his head exploded from their close proximity and the pure sexual appeal Nat was oozing.

"W-What?!" he squawked, clutching Nat's schedule to his chest, "I did not mean to imply – what I mean to say is that I – I just like to – or rather, it is a habit of mine to… to… It is common practice to identify one's companions…" Double D trailed off, too flustered to properly explain himself. For all intents and purposes he had not been 'checking' Nat out, though it would be a lie to say he had not sized up the other male upon their first meeting.

"Hey it's okay man – I was just yanking your chain" he raised his hand, planning on ruffling the other boy's hair, but stopped short at the beanie Double D donned – he was a bit curious (Kevin had mentioned something about him never taking it off), but thought better of questioning it, and instead clasped his hand on the other boy's shoulder.

Double D flinched a bit at the physical contact – his first instinct being to pull away – but Nat had never shown any intent to hurt him and so he relaxed under the other's touch.

"Right… Well, it seems you share first block with me – that's AP English, and then you have AP History. You have first lunch – I have first lunch as well – so you can head straight to the cafeteria after history… If you'd like, I can meet you outside history and we could walk to lunch together?" the last statement ended up more as a question (1). Nat seemed friendly and Double D had no doubt in his mind that the other boy would have no trouble making more friends. He should not assume that Nat would want to have lunch with him of all people when there would surely be better candidates.

"I'd love that – maybe we could sit together too. Now tell me about my other classes".

Double D hesitated, a bit flattered, before smiling his first big smile of the day (Nat died a bit inside – his heart couldn't handle that adorable smile again – not to mention he put that smile on his face), "I would enjoy that very much thank you. Let's see here… Your third class of the day is Trigonometry and then to wrap up the day you have Chemistry," and then as an afterthought, "With me".

"Sweet" Nat responded, and then noticing his hand had been resting on Double D's shoulder all this time, he released him and stepped back a bit – offering Edd a sheepish grin and a peal of nervous laughter, "Eheh sorry 'bout that".

Double merely shook his head, "It is quite alright – I did not mind it. Now then, we must hurry off to English – we're talking about symbolism today in _Heart of Darkness_ and I do not want to miss the riveting lecture our teacher is sure to provide!"

* * *

Kevin drearily stared out his classroom door, his head resting in the palm of hand, not paying a lick of attention to whatever it was his math teacher was droning on about. Absently, he wondered what Nat was up to and if he had gotten his schedule already. Even though that kid liked to piss him off, he was still pretty cool and Kevin had been hoping they might have a class or two together.

It was just as Kevin was drifting in and out of sleep that Nat walked by and Kevin sat up in shock at the sight. Nat was being his typical self, telling Double D a story about who knows what and waving his arms like an idiot. But it wasn't Nat that shocked him – it was Double D. Double D was red in the face from laughter and sure Kevin had seen the dweeb laugh before – he'd caused that laughter a couple of times – but never like this. Whatever it was Nat was saying, it must have been the funniest shit on the planet because Double D was damn near wheezing. They moved further and further from sight and Kevin found himself leaning as close to the door as possible to hopefully maybe see what it was that was so funny. Double D playfully smacked Nat's arm and Kevin didn't even have time to be shocked (as if he could get any more shocked than he already was) before he was tumbling out of his chair and falling face first to the floor.

A handful of kids snickered, while the rest looked on unsure whether to ask if their star athlete was alright or risk their necks like the braver students in the class and laugh too.

"Are you alright Kev?" Nazz asked as Kevin got off the floor and sat back in his seat. He shot his fiercest glare at the rest of the class and the teacher cleared his throat, "Alright everyone, eyes front".

"I'm fantastic" was Kevin's grumbled reply and Nazz stared at Kevin's face in worry, searching for some reason as to why Kevin randomly fell from his chair before reluctantly turning her attention back to the front. He'd probably fallen asleep and tumbled out of his chair is all – it was something she could see Kevin doing, there was nothing to worry about.

* * *

Lunch was interesting to say the least. When Double D had sat down with Nat, Ed – the ever friendly boy that he was – immediately offered some of his gravy to Nat who only looked mildly disgusted at the bowl of gravy Ed was eating and instead cracked a joke asking Ed if he wanted some mashed his potatoes with his gravy - which for whatever reason Ed thought was the funniest thing he had ever heard and in his fit of laughter had accidently spilled some of his gravy. The sure disaster that was to occur was averted by Nat's quick thinking who had said, "There's no use crying over spilled gravy, unless you can cry gravy that is". Which again, Ed had thought was hilarious and successfully distracted him from the tragic loss of his favorite food. It wasn't all too funny of a joke, but Double D still found himself hiding his laughter with his hand.

Eddy however was a different story. Upon seeing Nat he had immediately begun asking Nat about his family and what his parents did for a living, and how much money they made, and had even gone so far to ask him for a copy of their w2. Nat however did not seem perturbed by the barrage of questions and instead answered them with ease and upon revealing that his parents only had ordinary office jobs and that the name Goldberg did not represent their financial situation in anyway, was no longer of interest to the money grubbing Eddy.

Double D spent the majority of his lunch asking Nat about himself and the time spent had been particularly enjoyable and had regrettably passed in no time.

* * *

Third block rolled around and Kevin was excited to see that Nat was in this class with him. He made his way to the middle of the room where Nat had taken the window seat and sat beside him – dropping his backpack on the floor by his desk.

"How you enjoying your first day?" he greeted and Nat smiled.

"Dude it was great! Rolfy-boy was in my history class and when the teach was talkin' 'bout technological advancements and how some of 'em were pretty rad, Rolf jumped up and started spewing shit about his great Nana and how she could churn butter 'faster than your nincompoop no brain machines' and the teach's face – oh god it was the funniest shit".

Kevin chuckled in response, he had never met Rolf's great Nana but he had heard many a story of the infamous 'hairy beast' and it was just like Rolf to defend the ways of the 'old country'.

The teacher entered the room shortly after and Nat turned his attention towards the lecture, leaving Kevin with the choice to either pay attention or zone out.

When class was finally over and Kevin had seen the words sin and cotangent more than he ever wanted to see in his entire life, he turned his attention back to Nat whose notebook was riddled with so many formulas and practice problems that just seeing all those letters and numbers jumbled together gave Kevin an instant headache.

"Dude did you really do all those problems? You know he doesn't check 'em"

Nat only laughed, "I actually like math man, it's pretty cool". Kevin's face twisted in confusion but he decided not to say anything – he'd used to really like math too when he was younger but the higher level it got the more useless it seemed to him. But it was whatever – Nat could like whatever he wanted.

"Right… What class you got next?"

By now the two boys had gathered their things – for Kevin it had been easy – he'd just shoved his notebook in his backpack and his pencil in his pocket.

"I got Chemistry" Nat responded as they made their way out of the room.

"Choice. Me too"

Kevin had been just about to say they could walk there together when Double D walked up to them, slightly breathless from jogging across the school to get to them.

"Salutations Nat" Double D greeted before turning his attention to Kevin, "Greetings Kevin. Were you escorting Nat to our next class?"

"Yeah – why are you here?" Kevin hadn't meant it to be rude, that's just how he was, not to mention he was still curious about what the hell these two were laughing about earlier and, though he did not want to admit it, a bit sore from the memory of falling on his face.

Edd opened his mouth to say something, but Nat quickly sidled up to him and threw his arm around the boy's shoulder like he had done to Kevin earlier in the day, "Double D here is my guide and he graciously offered to walk me to class like a proper gentleman caller".

"Ge-gentleman caller? I'm hardly qualified to be a gentleman caller Nathan and you are most certainly no lady in waiting"

"Hey hey where'd you learn my name?"

"It was on your schedule".

"You were invading my privacy?"

"Not intentionally – it was made quite obvious on the paper and if you remember correctly that schedule had been given to me and so it was in my rights to read it".

Kevin was getting more confused by the second – he'd only ever seen Double D banter back and forth like this with the Eds. The few times he and Edd had talked one on one, the smaller boy had been very cautious and made it a point so as to pre-plan his words.

He'd have to ask what Nat's secret was later – he'd never seen Double D warm up to someone so quickly.

"Alright Romeo let's get to class" was all the warning Nat got before Kevin grabbed the back of shirt and began dragging him to their chemistry class. The red head glanced over his shoulder, eyeing Double D who was standing where he left him and gave him a look that said 'Well? Are you coming or not?'

"You too Double dweeb" and said boy smiled before scurrying after them.

* * *

At the end of the day, Double D bid the two boys farewell – he had to attend to the school's green house and Kevin was taking Nat to talk to the coach about seeing if the green haired boy could join in the middle of the season.

Once they had gone their separate ways and Double D was in the comfort of the greenhouse he allowed himself to break into a giddy grin.

He was absolutely ecstatic.

Not only had he successfully made friends with Nat – who did not find his know-it-all nature a bother and in fact could hold his own in an academic conversation whilst simultaneously getting along fairly well with his friends – but thanks to Nat, Double D felt like his relationship with Kevin had grown slightly more neighborly and a bit less hostile.

His and Kevin's relationship had always been a bit strained – they did not have much in common and while they were both perfectly capable of holding a conversation with one another, Double D constantly felt on edge around his childhood bully (though admittedly he only ever got bullied thanks to Eddy's devious ways) and therefore it made it hard for them to connect. Now though – thanks to Nat – it seemed they finally had something in common and it warmed Edd's heart to know that pursuing a friendship with Kevin no longer seemed to be a lost cause.

It seemed this would be a good year.

* * *

A/N:

1 – I went to a high school that operated under a block schedule, rather than your typical period schedule. So instead of having like seven or eight short classes, we had four hour and half classes one semester and another four the next semester.

I realize my writing is a bit redundant and I have a tendency to use the same sayings over and over again and for that I apologize – it's a habit I can't break it seems. Sorry.

Meh… Meeeeh. Sorry for the delay, this chapter was longer than I intended and I ended up not being able to write everything I wanted but well… I'll get there eventually.

And man, no matter how many times I proofread this I always end up missing some mistakes. Huff.

Thanks for reading though!


	4. Chapter 4

Kevin could not remember a time where Double D let anyone other than the Eds touch him so openly. Nat was a pretty touchy feely guy and upon meeting him he had thought if there was someone in the cul de sac Nat could not get along with – it would be Double D. But maybe he had underestimated Nat's charm – or maybe he didn't know Double D as well as he thought he did. It's not like he wanted to touch Edd or anything – why would he want to do that? – but it irked him to no end that Double D was so okay with Nat's constant handling of him. Like, what was with that? Why was it Double D got nervous around him and yet he acted like best pals with Nat? That's not to say he wanted to be best pals with Edd either, he just didn't get it. What? Did he smell bad? Kevin sniffed his shirt – it smelt like his cologne and admittedly a bit musky, but that could be chalked up to the small amount of sweat he had accumulated throughout the day. For the beginning of October it was awfully warm. But he certainly didn't smell bad!

He felt on edge this whole week and when Friday afternoon had rolled around he was glad to be able to plant face first into his bed – the sheets cool against his cheek – the whole Double D situation aggravating him. He wasn't sure which annoyed him more – that he wasn't as close to Double D as he had thought, of that he even cared. He tried not to let himself get too comfortable, as he had a home game today and he knew in an hour or so he'd have to get up and head back to school and get dressed and get pumped up for the mid-season game. Typically, he would usually go with the guys to get a drink and maybe stuff his face with a cheeseburger (not overstuff, last thing he wanted was to hurl on the opponent the first time he got tackled) but he just wanted some alone time.

Kevin rolled over onto his back, his right arm smacking the bed with a soft 'thwack', and his head craned so he could look out his bedroom window. His room was on the second floor and faced the street and so from his perch he had a nice view of the sidewalk and street. And a nice view of Nat and Edd it seemed, as he could see the two of them conversing on the sidewalk, positioned between their two houses. Kevin and Nat had walked home together and so he assumed the boys had crossed paths along the way, as he knew the Eds often made the commute together.

Pulling himself into a seated position, Kevin scooted closer to the window – curious as to what they were talking about, his hands grasped the window sill and slid the window frame up as silently as he could. A cool breeze blew in, but it felt warm compared to his air-conditioned room, as he peered at the two boys. He hunkered down a bit, not keen on being spotted and listened to their voices carry. He could not hear Double D – he was, all the way across the street that is – but Kevin could hear Nat's loud voice (the neighborhood probably could too).

"You should come in" Nat was offering and Kevin knew (thought he knew) Double D would say no, and by the way Nat's smile dropped, he was right.

"Too bad man – oh hey no it'd cool, don't worry about it."

Of course Double D was apologizing for the rejected offer – it warmed Kevin to know that he at least knew some things about Double D.

"I'd love that actually – maybe I could see you in action" Kevin sat up straighter at the words, peering down as harshly as he could at the duo – what were they talking about? By the way Edd was waving his arms; Kevin assumed he was nervous about something.

"Ha – I bet you're amazing." And then Nat was leaning forward, his right arm coming to loop around Edd's neck and his palm resting at the base of it. Nat's voice came out huskier and a bit quieter and Kevin had to strain to hear, "I'd love to see you all flustered again, like you were for me that night".

Kevin wrenched back, ripping himself away from the window as if he had been burned. What the absolute fuck? Had he heard right? Surely not! He leaned back towards the window again – not giving a damn if anyone saw him or not – and watched as Double D stumbled away from Nat, his hands gripping his hat tightly – the dweeb's defense mechanism of sorts. Nat reared back and laughed – Double D did look quite ridiculous – and Kevin smiled along with him. It seemed they both found a flustered Double D humorous.

Double D turned on his heel and walked hurriedly towards his front door and Kevin turned his attention back to Nat who was still standing in the same place, a goofy grin on his face, before he lifted his hand and offered a small – much different from his typical overenthusiastic ones – wave. Kevin turned his head to look back at Double D, who was offering his own small wave and an equally stupid grin before he bowed his head and disappeared in his home.

Kevin scoffed, annoyed with the duo's idiotic expressions – what was there to smile about anyway? – before moving to slam his window shut and lay back down. With an annoyed huff, he rolled onto his side and away from his window, what was up with Double dweeb and Nat? More importantly, Kevin frowned, what was up with himself?

* * *

Nat had a coming home ritual; one that, until this day had yet to be interrupted. He would come home, kick off his shoes, grab a snack from the fridge ("Bagel BIIIIITES!"), and then lounge on the sofa for an hour or so before doing his homework. Today was however, Friday and even though his elementary teachers preached that when he was in high school his teachers would give him weekend homework, it proved to be untrue 99% of the time.

Admittedly, he was a bit down that he was missing out on football season but he could always go watch the games and this time away from sports gave him an opportunity to branch out into other clubs – he loved his extracurricular activities.

Speaking of extra-curriculars, he was now an official member of the astronomy club, which didn't really have any club activities but met up twice a month at night to star-gaze using the school's extra-large telescope that was mounted on the school's rooftop. It sounded pretty neat to Nat and the fact that Edd was one of the only three members (excluding him) was an added bonus.

He had also joined the staff of the student newspaper and oh boy were they going to regret that. The newspaper was dying and so when he had expressed his desire to join they all but begged him to write for them. He was planning on releasing a "Top ten hottest Peach Creek Guys" list (with him being reigning champ of course) but Nazz, who was apparently in charge of the club, had put him in charge of sports (what a dream wrecker) but it was whatever – now he got to go into games for free.

Speaking of games, there was one tonight and he had himself a date with the sidelines (aka taking notes about the game and the occasional picture of displays of team spirit).

Nat snickered to himself, because 'team spirit' would be every time one of the players smacked another player's ass – ah the joys of playing football.

He skipped his afterschool snack (the snack bar at the game apparently had some amazing cheese fries and he'd be damned if he was gonna miss out on that) and tromped up to his bedroom, intent on taking a shower and getting dolled up before the game.

That plan flew out the door however, when upon entering his bedroom, he could see Double D sitting at his desk – window open.

This was his chance to chat it up with the boy, even though they had just got done doing so.

Eagerly, he skipped (a manly skip) to his own window and yanked it up, "Sup D!" he yelled, startling the the poor boy across the way who jumped nearly a foot in the air, before swirling in his chair to look at the offending noise, his hand gripping his shirt, above his heart.

"Goodness gracious Nat – you nearly scared the living daylights out of me!" he scolded, but got up from his chair nonetheless to cross the room and stand by the window.

"Aha sorry 'bout that" Nat chuckled nervously, absently scratching the back of his head and looking the picture of innocence, complete with a cheeky grin.

"… I appreciate the sentiment," Double D, however, looked unconvinced.

"So – what are you doing? Not going to the game later?" Nat leaned out the window some, his palms resting on the sill and elbows locked – Double D cringed in worry.

"You guessed correctly – I am not. I'd much rather spend my times indoors than sit in a germ infested crowd watching a group of teenagers horse around" he stated as if he had just recited the weather or something equally as casual, "You really shouldn't lean out the window like that".

Nat ignored the warning in favor of rocking back and forth, finding a bit of joy in the way Double D bit his lip in worry, "So you're just going to sit in your house all day? That doesn't sound like fun to me".

"Well if you must know" Double D began, eyes trained on Nat's constant need to test the laws of gravity by leaning half out his window, "I'll be going to the creek later to collect samples of-GOOD LORD MAN!"

Nat might have found Double D's exclamation a bit funny, if he wasn't flailing half way out his window like a fish out of water. At some point, amidst his leaning out the window, his arm had slipped and the teal haired boy found the air knocked out of him when his stomach hit the window sill and his upper torso smacked against the wall outside.

Not feeling like falling two stories, he quickly shimmied backwards and then used his arms to push himself back and up and into his room – but not before smacking the back of his head against the top of his window – effectively cutting off his cheers of success.

"Oh holy – shit that hurt!" he exclaimed, hands clutching the back of his head as he stumbled back and landed on his ass with an 'oomph'.

"Nathan are you okay?!" Double D called, leaning as far out his window as he dared, trying to get an eyeful of the other boys condition.

"Aha yeah, I'm good" Nat called back – it hurt like a bitch actually, but there was no way he was going to tell Double D that – he was a man.

Double D still looked unsure, "I'm coming over" he decided, "Is your front door unlocked?"

"Yeah" Nat croaked, still rubbing his head.

"Okay stay there!" and then Double D was slamming his window shut and then rushing out of his room.

Nat sat there for not even a minute before the dork was running into his room, a very large first aid kit in hand.

"How'd you know where my room was?" he asked curiously and Double D just gave him an exasperated look before setting the kit down.

"The floor plan of your house is fairly simple and since I can see your bedroom from my own room it wasn't hard to figure out" Double D said it like it was the most simple thing in the world but Nat didn't think he'd be able to find Edd's room with as much ease.

"So what's the diagnosis doc?" Nat asked after a moment, Double D had, after setting the first aid box down, made a beeline for him and immediately began prodding the back of his head for any traces of blood.

"You didn't seem to break the skin, though you'll probably have a nasty bruise – I would suggest going to the hospital to check for any signs of a possible concussion. You aren't tired are you?"

"Nah"

"What about your vision? Is it spotty?"

"Nope, 's all good"

"That's good to hear – would you like me to escort you to the hospital?"

"I don't need to go to the hospital" Nat laughed, before standing up – the sudden movement making him a little light headed – he hoped Double D didn't notice. And well, judging by how the boy had his hands on his hips and was giving him his best 'I told you so' look, he had.

"I'm sure it'll be fine-" Damn, Double D had a fierce glare, "But I can call my family doctor I guess".

Double D smiled at that, before nodding enthusiastically, "Fantastic!"

* * *

Nat's family doctor, it seemed, was a personal doctor hired specifically for the Goldberg family. The man had gotten here in record time, it was actually mildly alarming how quick he arrived, and then examined the Goldberg swiftly and with a familial familiarity.

After he had left (Nat was not concussed though it was advised he not sleep for the next couple hours and to take it easy) the green haired boy explained how he had known the doctor his whole life and went on to mention how, before moving to Peach Creek the Goldberg family had lived in a large home in the city with butlers and a giant yard and so on.

Which begged the question, why had they moved here? Double D did not voice this however, he had tact after all, and Nat seemed slightly bitter about all the extravagancies in his life. Double D wondered if he hated the rich life – he seemed perfectly content here in Peach Creek after all.

Though it wasn't by much, Double D felt like he understood the enigma that was Nat a little better.

* * *

It was half time, and Kevin (who after a breezy two quarters in their favor was feeling particularily refreshed - his worries about Double D long gone) approached Nazz, who was standing on the sidelines looking particularly pissed.

"What's up?" he asked after taking a huge swig of his Gatorade.

She huffed slightly before jabbing Kevin in the chest with a finger, "What's up is that Nat decided to skip out on his journalism duties".

"… Uh what now?" Journalism? Was Nat on the school's newspaper? He hadn't known that - kid sure got around.

"Yeah, I put him in charge of sports and he was supposed to come to the game so he could write an article".

Kevin glanced around the crowd, no sign of his flamboyant friend anywhere, "He said he was coming to the game".

"Well he isn't here Kev," Nazz whined, "Look can you give me his number so I can ask him where the hell he's at?"

Kevin hesitated, Nazz could be scary when she was pissed, "Sure thing".

* * *

Nat was sitting in his living room, watching a documentary about wasps with Double D when his phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number. Double D looked at him curiously, "What is it?"

"Nothing – hey, you wouldn't happen to know this number would you?" he shoved his phone in Double D's face, who scrunched his nose up in annoyance, but studied the number anyway.

He leaned back, face beaming in recognition, "Why, that is Nazz's number".

"Ah cool" he wondered what she wanted – he clicked open the message and then paled as he read it - Nazz sounded pissed.

"Ahaha oops"

"Oops?" Double D questioned.

"I forgot I was supposed to go to the game"

"Well, it can't be helped – your doctor told you to take it easy".

Nat had a feeling though, if Double D knew he was supposed to be doing work for the newspaper, then the boy wouldn't be so relaxed about him missing the game. Oh well.

* * *

"What'd he say?" Kevin asked as Nazz read over the text, 'Sorry – had a date with Double D – I'll make it up to you'.

Nazz looked up at Kevin wearily, her previous anger dimishing, before slipping her phone into her back pocket, "Uhm… He's sick".

"Damn that sucks, well the third quarters gonna start soon – catch ya later!"

Nazz waved him off, frowning to herself, "Poor Kev" she whispered, "You might not know it now, but you're totally gonna be heartbroken if those two hit it off".

* * *

A/N: Aha sorry for the delay you guys. I have no excuse - I'm just lazy. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

The next one's gonna be weird, it'll be Nazz-centric and welp it'll be fun either way.

Tata.


End file.
